Two bills proposed by Louisville Sen. Matt Jones were killed

By John Fryar

Staff Writer

Posted:
02/01/2018 09:33:29 PM MST

Updated:
02/01/2018 09:38:07 PM MST

Steve Fenberg (Courtesy Photo)

A Colorado Senate panel on Thursday approved a proposal from Boulder Democratic Sen. Steve Fenberg to declare homeowners' right to install electric battery storage systems on their residential properties without having to face "unnecessary restrictions or regulations" or "unfair or discriminatory rates" from energy companies.

However, the same committee killed two of Louisville Democratic Sen. Matt Jones' bills on Thursday.

Fenberg said the Senate Agriculture, Natural Resources and Energy Committee members voted 8-2 to advance his Senate Bill 18-009 to consideration by the full Senate.

Fenberg has said his bill, which has bipartisan sponsorship, would direct the state Public Utilities Commission to adopt rules that would "ensure a streamlined and simple and affordable" approach.

He said in a fact sheet about the bill that the measure would prevent utility companies from requiring "additional, unnecessary meters that violate a customer's privacy and create additional expenses and complications for installation and configuration of the system."

The Senate Agriculture, Natural Resources and Energy Committee also heard — and a majority of that panel's 11 members voted along party lines, with Republican members of the committee prevailing, according to Jones — to kill two of Jones' bills, he said on Thursday evening.

They were:

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• Senate Bill 18-063, which would have set stricter financial-assurance requirements for proposed oil and gas operations in order to ensure that companies applying for drilling permits are financially solvent and able to cover the costs of dealing with circumstances such as any spills, leaks, explosions, air pollution and environmental mishaps that might occur at the well site.

• Senate Bill 18-064, which would have required all electric utilities in Colorado to derive their energy from 100 percent renewable sources such as wind and solar by the year 2035.

"I'm going to keep fighting fracking down here" in the Legislature, Jones said afterward, "and at the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and any other place I can."

He said that despite the death of his proposed renewable-energy law, "we need to get to wind and solar and energy efficiency as quickly as we can."

The Colorado Petroleum Council applauded the Senate committee's rejections of both Jones bills, saying in a news release that the committee "signaled support for responsible energy development to the benefit of the state economy, work force and consumers" by terminating "proposals that could halt all oil and natural gas development in the state."